Page 67 of Waiting in Wyoming

“Sure thing, Uncle Dale,” Kurt said. He and his two friends were dragging Brandt to his feet. Meyra just looked at the man she loved.

Blue eyes opened. And narrowed on her face. He looked right at her. And she knew…

She would love him forever. And she would fight as hard as she possibly could to save them both. Meyra wasn’t giving up.

57

He neededto take care of this little problem, too.

Meyra Talley, Gerald Talley’s daughter. She was a complication he hadn’t anticipated. A big one.

He studied the building around them. It was a simple metal pole barn office. It had been a private office for some of Morris’s minor holdings. It had been foreclosed on recently. It was perfect for what he intended. Morris’s office, the place of the final showdown for Brandt Barratt and the goons the boy had “hired.” He just needed a few more bodies to make it believable.

But how to make the narrative work with Brandt’s girlfriend thrown into the mix? She was just going to have to be one of thosebodies.

Dale had seen so many possible scenarios in his life—including murders and attempted murders. Occasionally, simple was best.

Brandt Barratt wouldn’t have killed the girlfriend. Not with the relationship being so new. Still in a honeymoon type phase. So romantic, so sweet. But if one of his associates killed the girl—Barratt could reciprocate from the rage and grief.

And die in the attempt.

But that meant someone else would have to die. A worthy opponent of a young man like Brandt Barratt.

That somewhat limited Dale’s options. He couldn’t exactly kill his own nephew. For one thing, the boy was family and Michelle was quite fond of her sister’s only son. Ashton was out, as well. The boys were cousins. And Michelle probably wouldn’t stand for it.

There were a few other young men there that he had no attachment to. But how to make it work? Believably? Without angering Ashton and Kurt, as well? They were all fools and morons, but they were fiercely loyal to each other. That could be a problem.

“Ashton, Kurt, get out of here. Meet up with Will. He’ll have some money for you. Cross the border and settle there. You’ll know where, Kurt. Stay there until I get word to you. But first, take Barratt into the back office. And take him out.”

Kurt practically crowed as Ashton dumped the girl into a supply closet.

Dale would never forget the girl’s green eyes as she looked him like a monster. His own daughter had green eyes and hair of a similar color. They had grown up together, Sierra and Meyra. He would admit, he regretted her a bit. She was just an innocent young woman at the wrong place at the wrong time.

But sometimes, the cost was significant. And Dale wouldn’t stop until he ensured Michelle was safe.

If Gerald Talley’s daughter was the price, then so be it.

58

Wayne knewthat dumbass Dale was up to something he shouldn’t be. Why else would Dale have sent Wayne a message to meet him now?

Wayne was sweating. He had seen the newscast that morning. The Masterson County police were looking for a man named Wade King in conjunction with kidnapping and possible murder charges. King was considered armed and dangerous.

He might be using the aliases Waylon Prost, Wayne Pryor, and a variety of other identities. He suspected someone at the inn—one of those Talley girls, smart girls that they were—had finally realized who he was, recognized him from November. And sounded the alarm with the local police.

Those were identities that Wayne had certainly used before. If that broadcast got out, made it to Idaho…if Linda saw…

Wayne had a mess of his own to clear up now.

He pulled into the dark slate pole barn. The parking lot was just gravel, the building looked a bit worse for wear. Morris somehow always had made things look a little shabby. Wayne had never fully understood that. He’d reminded him of thatcharacter in the Charlie Brown cartoons. Pigpen. Just a cloud of dirt had followed Morris around their entire lives.

Then again, maybe it was the cloud of evil.

What was it that was said in Romans? Cling to that which is good? Well, maybe it was that evil clung to evil.

Wayne had always wondered how close to evil Morris and his friends actually were.

Dale was probably panicking, afraid Wayne would be enough to connect him to Morris’s evil enterprise, even though that enterprise had toppled.